In recent years, improved synthetic fibers achieving features close to animal hair have been used as alternatives to animal hair. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-109990 (PTL 1) discloses a method for manufacturing a filament having a surface structurally similar to cuticles of animal hair. According to the disclosed method, the filament is manufactured by mixing and melt-spinning inorganic powder and polyethylene terephthalate to prepare a filament and stretching the same. Further, PTL 1 discloses that one end of the stretched filament is immersed in an alkaline solution to obtain a tapered shape.